ELi5: what causes genes to mutate?
In: Biology
Sometimes there’s a specific thing that causes genetic mutations, like exposure to ionizing radiation or other environmental exposure to things like toxins, but most of the time it’s just random chance. These random mutations occur when DNA is making copies of itself and sometimes it just makes a mistake. Sort of like how if you were to type out a really long essay, you’re almost certain to make a couple of typos that you didn’t notice. There’s no rhyme or reason why you made *those specific* typos, and if you typed the same essay again, you’d probably make different ones.
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